David Walliams has an incredible talent of telling stories of normal, everyday children who achieve remarkable things in the face of adversity, with a fair amount of gross humour and giggles thrown in – The Midnight Gang is no exception.
‘One of the most heartwarming shows I have ever seen’: FLOWERS FOR MRS HARRIS – Chichester ★★★★★
Flowers for Mrs Harris is one of the most heartwarming shows I have ever seen and a return to the great British musical. The audible gasps, from the audience, at certain parts a testament to both the writing and performances.
‘In many ways ahead of its time’: THE CHALK GARDEN – Chichester ★★★
The Chalk Garden is visually stunning to look at and has some extremely impressive performances from a talented and very well-rehearsed cast.
‘Full of energy from beginning to end’: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE – Touring
A Streetcar Named Desire was full of energy from beginning to end, with some wonderful movement as well as acting, so much so that, at times, it was quite exhausting to watch. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found myself becoming really invested in the characters and what was going to happen to them.
‘One of the most astounding performances I’ve ever seen’: SUNSET BOULEVARD – Touring ★★★★★
This Curve staging of Sunset Boulevard successfully manages to keep the glamour and scale required of a show documenting the golden age of Hollywood whilst making it suitable for a touring company.
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (with Craig Revel Horwood) – Southampton
The Chuckle Brothers were the perfect foil for Craig Revel-Horwood’s evil Queen Lucretia who was sexy, sultry, evil and really rather beautiful with a powerful singing voice.
LEGALLY BLONDE – Touring ★★★★
Based on the 2001 film of the same name, it is the heartwarming tale of Elle Woods, a rich, blonde, airhead sorority girl from California who follows her snake of an ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law school proving along the way that she is anything but an airhead.
STOMP – Touring
I had never seen it and was somewhat apprehensive that 100 minutes of people banging buckets wouldn’t be that interesting. I was soon proven wrong.
SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH – Chichester
Sweet Bird of Youth is a 1959 play by now legendary playwright Tennessee Williams. As with many of his plays it follows the themes of age, mental illness and social standing as well as failed ambition and political corruption.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY – Touring
The Addams Family, created by American cartoonist, Charles Addams, have been a part of popular culture for decades through a audience-pleasing sitcom, several films and now a musical. The Addams are an eccentric bunch, who live a macabre but family oriented life, unaware that people find them odd.
INTERVIEW: Spotlight On… The Addams Family cast
“I sobbed when I came off stage the first night, just went into my dressing room and had a little cry. It’s incredible. I’d never heard of The Addams Family (musical) until a few years ago. Until I was asked to do a concert with Andrew Lippa.”
PYGMALION – Southampton
This radical production of Pygmalion is a collaboration between Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Headlong and West Yorkshire Playhouse. It was certainly bold and brave and bought it right up to date to the digital age.
WONDERLAND – Touring
Frank Wildhorn, Jack Murphy and Gregory Boyd have created a whole new take on this classic story bringing bang up to date with the musical Wonderland. In this version Alice is a 40-year-old single mum having the worst birthday of her life.
THE WEDDING SINGER – Touring
The Wedding Singer was originally conceived as a romantic comedy film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in 1998. Being made into a musical which premiered on Broadway eight years later in 2006. After being nominated for a Tony award in 2006 the show went on tour.
GHOST – Touring
I can safely say that there were no ‘weak links’ in the performances of this show but there were highlights. Carolyn Maitland, as Molly Jensen was stunning.
NOT DEAD ENOUGH – Touring
Being obsessed with crime drama, I was interested to see how something that would usually be a six part television series would adapt to the stage. I was surprised and delighted to find that the answer was incredibly well.
EVITA – Touring
The rags to riches story of Eva Peron charting her rise from poverty as a child to the first lady of Argentina has been wowing audiences worldwide since its conception in 1976. The musical written by the award winning duo Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber takes the audience through a rollercoaster of emotions and is as relevant now as it was when it was first written.
Year in Review: Caroline Hanks-Farmer & co choose their favourite shows of 2016
2016 has undoubtedly had its highs and lows. I wanted to find out what were my regular reviewers’ two favourite theatrical productions that they had covered for me this year?
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET – Touring
In 1956 four young men on the brink of stardom had an impromptu jam session at the now legendary Sun studios under the watchful eye of Sam Phillips, the man who created Rock’n’Roll.
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS – Touring & West End
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Graeme’s beloved family tale of the riverbank has delighted readers young and old for over a century. The story of Ratty, Mole and the severe Mr Badger and their mission to save the notorious Mr Toad from himself is a timeless classic enjoyed by all.
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